The young gun of Mumbai Indians, Rohit Sharma, played a brilliant innings while the team’s bowlers played a significant role and won the match vs. Pune Warriors.

Mumbai Indians amassed 183 runs for the loss of just three wickets in the allocated 20 overs and they restricted Pune Warriors to 142 with two wickets remaining in the required overs.

Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians) was declared ‘Player of the match’ for his unbeaten brisk knock of 62 from 32 mere balls.

The 15th match of the Indian Premier League was played on Saturday, April 13, 2013, at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.

Earlier, Ricky Ponting, the skipper of Mumbai Indians, won the toss and chose to bat first at the home wicket. Ponting came in to open the innings with the little master, Sachin Tendulkar, and the first started off with a couple of fours in the second over. Tendulkar made his presence felt in the very next over by dispatching 4 back to back boundaries, he got another 11 runs in the sixth one and was dropped as well. The pair scored 54 runs at the end of the seventh over as Ponting was dismissed for 14 and Tendulkar followed him six runs later for 44 off just 29 deliveries with 1 six and 7 fours.

Rohit Sharma – A smart knock of 62 from just 32 balls

Rohit Sharma and Dinesh Karthik got together and steadied the innings while sending the ball out of the fence regularly. Karthik hit 1 six and 3 fours in the process and the score went past the hundred runs mark in the 14th over. The score was taken to 115 in 15.1 overs when Dinesh Karthik was declared leg before wicket off Mitchell Marsh for 41 from 29 with 1 six and 4 fours. Kieron Pollard walked in next as Sharma added 17 runs in the 17th over with 2 big sixes and the two batsmen punished Marsh for 21 runs in the next over with 2 sixes and even fours. Rohit Sharma powered his fifty in the final over with 2 sixes and remained unbeaten for 62 from just 32 balls comprising 5 giant sixes and 3 fours. Kieron Pollard secured his end with 19 as Mumbai Indians hammered 183 runs with seven wickets in hand in 20 overs.

Aaron Finch, Yuvraj Singh and Mitchell Marsh were the only successful bowlers with one wicket each among seven others.

Pune Warriors had a disastrous beginning as they lost their three top order batsmen for just 13 runs in 2.3 overs while Yuvraj Singh and Tirumalasetti Suman assembled in the park. The latter scored nine runs from the first three balls he faced with 2 fours and tried to keep up the rhythm by getting 3 more boundaries. Suman was gone at 38 when he was caught by Pollard off Harbhajan Singh for 23 and was replaced by his captain Angelo Mathews. Yuvraj Singh went after the rival bowling by hitting 2 sixes and 1 four but became the fifth victim at 71 in 9.4 overs for 24 runs.

Mitchell Marsh associated with Mathews who was gone for 19 in the 13th over. Marsh preferred to attack by sending the ball flying over the rope twice and two rolling boundaries. The lower order batting surrendered easily and Marsh was the eighth batsman who went back to the pavilion for 38 from 26 deliveries with 2 sixes and even fours. Pune Warriors managed 142 runs after losing eight wickets after the last ball of the 20th over was bowled.

Mumbai Indians won the match comprehensively by a substantial margin of 41 runs and tops the table with six points.